Of sunflowers, smiles, and songs
by Imagerywriter
Summary: It was a smile that began it, a sunflower that encouraged it, and a song that made it.
1. A festival of sunflowers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or the song.**

The sun beat down on the backs of anyone who dared to go outside. Though there were a few who were prepared, these few found the day quite enjoyable. Especially since it seemed that everyone had flocked to a special celebration. The sunflower festival.

The nations trudged to their chaperone's dwelling. Some grumbling about the heat, some complaining of the some-what long journey, and others complained of both. Everyone who wasn't complaining was more than likely used to the heat or knew well enough that they should dress lightly. The few individuals that knew to dress lightly included Japan, Canada, England, France, Russia, and any nation that generally had a hot climate. England and France only knew because Canada had warned them, after many attempts to though; Japan and Canada had been to his place enough times to know, and Russia knew, since America had once told him, quote-on-quote 'Dude if you ever came to my place dressed like that you would probably die of heat stroke even before getting there'. He thought it was better safe than sorry. Many sighed with relief when a starch white house came into view, it almost hurt Russia's eyes to look at since the bright, blistering sun seemed to reflect off it.

"Why the bloody hell would America have a house in the literal middle of nowhere?" England complained, he had been questioning aloud if this was just some "idiot prank to get everyone lost". Russia looked down at the small blond and almost started to doubt that England ever really knew America real well. And it was quite funny since he was one of the ones to insist they come.

'The meeting had started like usual, the usual bickering and fighting heated the air. Though some of the others were uncharacteristically quiet, obviously unsettled by something and Russia could tell. A certain person's voice was not mingling with the others. Russia could see their eyes scan the room until they saw the blonde of the missing man's hair. America was sitting quietly, consumed in writing something down in a thick manila folder. Russia's eyes were drawn back to the presenting board when Germany finally got the meeting under control. He then proceeded to drone on about something, Russia didn't really pay attention. America wasn't the only one to get bored with these meetings, this reminded him of one meeting where he and America had a conversation about the different kinds of alcohol, but that was a long, long time ago and a story for another time.

"America, pay attention!" Germany practically screamed at the other blonde, who seemed too absorbed in his writing to even pay attention to the yelling German, which was a feat in and of itself.

"Ah, Germany I don't think it is a good idea to mess with him, I haven't seen him this enthralled in his work for a while, da?" Russia piped up, he didn't know why, but he did know that there had been other nations who did other things while at a meeting (many, many things). So why couldn't America?

All heads turned to the tall man who was seated next to America. Most of them just stared at the oddity that was America sitting next to Russia, they of course hadn't seen such a thing between the two as sitting next to each other since the cold war. Usually America would get up and move if Russia tried sitting next to him or Russia would be dragged off by Belarus, but "sadly" she couldn't make it and America was too distracted. Though they were on better terms, it was still kind of tense between the two; neither really had any direct confrontations, except for the occasional intense staring contest.

"Goddammit!" They were all pulled out of their thoughts by America's outburst. He ran a fidgeting hand through his hair, whipped out his phone, and seemed to dial a number.

"Hello, yes it's me, yeah I need you to schedule another band, yes we have extra time for that and could you make sure everything _is_ kid friendly, we don't need a repeat of last year, that's it, bye." America jabbed his phone back into his pocket and continued his hasty scribbling. Most stared at him, wondering what he was doing, others noticed Russia leaning to look over his shoulder.

"Alfred it is not 1,000 per food stand, it is 10,000 if your estimation of people is correct and that is how many stands you have, also you forgot an eight behind that three." Russia pointed to several unseen (by the rest of the nations), points on the sheet America was writing on.

"Oh, and here is that spread sheet you asked Ivan and I to finish." Canada's voice surprised everyone except America and Russia, handing a sheet to America. Said nation sighed as everyone sent him assessing looks and he could almost see the gears in their brains over working to try and remember who he was. America looked between both sheets, before slinging an arm around both their necks and pulling them into a makeshift hug. It was a gentle, sweet embrace and it smelled like homemade food, sunflowers, and maple. 'Huh, didn't know that America would like them that much, this will definitely go into blackmail' was the only thought that crossed Canada's mind. This was quite different from what was floating around in Russia's head, he was wondering why he was being hugged, if one could call it that, and why the iniciator of the hug felt like they needed to give them a hug.

"What would I do without you?" America cried, while he broke the embrace. Russia could have sworn he felt a glare coming from England's side of the room.

"Honhonhon, what are you three talking about, maybe a relationship?" France asked with a suggestive eyebrow waggle, he being one of the only nations to not be brain dead from the interaction they just witnessed and the only one to see suggestive situations. It was befuddling to see America initiate something meant for friends with a man who he seemed to hate and some air (though the empty space turned out to be another nation.)

"Oh we're talkin' about this festival that's being held at my place." America drawled as he soon became bored and started to fiddle with his pencil. England quirked a single, bushy eyebrow.

"A festival?"

"Yeah, it's the sunflower festival, we were just talking about some averages, oh wait, Japan did ya get the invite." Said nation simply nodded his reply, which seemed to satisfy the American because he picked up his phone and started do rapidly tap its screen.

"And where do they come into this?" Asked a persistent Englishman. Russia took that moment to butt in.

"He asked me to help because he thought I would be thorough since I was allowed to go and I love sunflowers, and Matthew, well he was simply promised pancakes and a favor." A look of hurt flickered across England's face before it turned into a sickly sweet smile.

"America don't you think it would fun if more people were there?" Alfred stopped his intense jabbing and stared at England, his overly bright smile stretched his face.

"It would, do you guys wanna come, and I could easily make a few arrangements?" Several of the nations nodded, most wanting to go to the festival to relieve stress, others seeing it as an opportunity to see America's place again, or for the first time since some only stayed in hotels close to the meeting building.

So all the countries except America and Canada had piled into the next flight to the states, after they all had packed. Russia had not found the flight very enjoyable since a certain group of countries decided to make a nuisances of themselves. He was not amused when they had almost been banned from the airline and kept annoying the other patrons. And when they got to the airport, they had seen Canada in khaki pants, red and white tennis shoes, and a thin red hoody. He was waiting by the entrance, leaning against a wall close to the doors, and when he saw the group, he had cocked an unimpressed eyebrow.

"You guys sure you don't want to change into lighter clothes?"

"Yes, we are certain that we will be fine." Canada had then smirked at them, when he saw that only the ones he had warned and a few others were dressed lightly.

"Okay, but don't whine to me about it then." After that they had gotten on the wrong bus, because England insisted that he remembered where it was, Canada the ever responsible person he was, just rolled his eyes and let them get on the wrong bus. After that they found a new bus, but it didn't go the full way to the house. And that was how they ended up in their current predicament.

"We are almost there, so stop complaining." Canada demand, obviously irritated that no one listened to his warning. And Russia agreed with Canada, they were already at America's driveway. He noticed a blue 2015 blue Camaro that had two small red and white streaks, it reminded him of a movie America was into a while ago. Germany walked up the steps to the front porch and was about to knock when he noticed a folded paper on a table with two rocking chairs at its sides. He picked up the note and read off.

'Dear guests, I had to go early so you will have to continue on, also don't try to break into the car and hot wire it

p.s. you all needed a good jog anyways.'

Some of the nations snorted with disbelief, Russia chuckled to himself, and others groaned with the realization of another long journey.

"Vell, we might as vell start heading to zhe festival, _on foot_." Germany emphasized the "on foot" to show his displeasure with having a whining Italy hanging on him and more unwanted exercise.

Thankfully no one died of heat stroke, but many of them were upset about their unexpected work out. When they arrived, they were surprised to see all the attractions, people, and of course sunflowers. There must have been 400 acres of them. All the countries stood awe-struck at the sheer magnitude of it all.

"The bloody hell, he puts this much effort into a festival, but not the meetings and where is he anyway?" England sounded annoyed and many of the nations agreed.

"You probably won't be able to see him, he probably is a walking sunflower right now." Came, the sarcastic yet not so much, reply of Canada.

"Maybe he is off somewhere eating, aru." Canada huffed, obviously ignored.

"Or sleeping." France added in, he looked miserable. Actually now that Russia looked many of the nations had shed their business shirts and were now wearing whatever they had worn under them. He was really glad that he had just worn some jeans, brown, not so thick boots, a white t-shirt, and his scarf wrapped around his waist seeing as it would have felt too stuffy wearing it around his neck. The group started to congregate towards a stand that was selling drinks and some tables under a rather large awning. They occupied one large table and when the waiter came by, they all ordered water.

"Is there anything else I can get for you?" Russia could almost feel the smile radiating off the man and he instantly knew who it was, and so did Canada.

"No, but do you think you could tell us if you…" Japan trailed off when he looked up to see America smiling down at them. He was wearing a graphic shirt that was covered in sunflower designs, blue jeans, brown riding boots, and his bangs were pulled out of his face and held in place at the top of his head by a sunflower hair pin, which amused both Russia and Canada. The absence of his jacket was odd until they noticed it tied by the sleeves around his waist; he did know when he didn't need to wear the thick thing.

"Ah, I see you decided to help with the festivities." Canada laughed, and raised an eyebrow that said 'you really decided to dress like a walking sunflower'. America just smiled and turned on his heel to go get their drinks, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"America where are you going and why did you not stay to give us a ride!" England and France almost yelled in unison. America just laughed and brushed off England's grip on his shoulder, he sauntered off to a woman behind the counter of the stand, swagger practically radiating off of him. Both Canada and Russia shared an amused glance and a slight giggle that was totally not girly.

"Hey mags, could I get some waters for that large table over there?" He asked the woman who went through a series of emotions. First it was a slight blush at the obvious childish nickname, then it was an incredulous look at the group, and finally it was a broad grin that reminded the group of America's. When the clerk went about getting their large order, the blonde walked over to a man who was waving him down. The man pointed at several of the attractions and then a small metal box on a wooden post. America just smiled, nodded and ran off to the box. Russia and the other nations watched as the country ran back and forth doing jobs for the workers. They were snapped out of their daze when said country walked up to them holding two large trays of water glasses, which he miraculously balanced. He passed out all the drinks with ease and he seemed to radiate happiness, eagerness, and determination.

"America, why is it that you are working hard to maintain this festival, but you never work this hard at the meetings?" He was seemingly ignored as the other blonde skipped off to an elderly looking man who was having trouble lifting some boxes. Russia and Canada snorted with laughter at the sight of him skipping. America seemed to talk to him for a minute and then he ran back to where the other nation had been seated.

"Hey can I borrow one of you for a sec?" Before anyone could reply to his request, he had already latched both of his arms onto Russia's and was dragging him towards the elderly man. The nations didn't say anything until Canada suggested that they go and try out some of the games and attraction, which everyone agreed too.

"Hey, its okay you don't have to lift the boxes sir, we will handle it." America gestured towards himself and then at the taller man that seemed to be brooding, before he quickly took one of the boxes that the man was trying to pick up. The man smiled and nodded, while he quickly went to go help out at one of the stands.

"Okay so if we evenly distributed the boxes between us we can carry them all in one trip." America said as he started to pick up three of the boxes.

"America why do I need to help you carry these boxes?" Russia asked, giving America a skeptical look. Said person paused and slowly looked back at him, gaining a stern look.

"Would you really leave these for a sixty year old man to pick these up, also you should use our _other_ names!" That was the only thing needed to be said for Ivan to cooperate. So they both ended up navigating their way to where the boxes needed to be placed. When they reached their destination they had swiftly placed the boxes down and were about to head back.

"Hey, hey Alfred over here!" Russia saw a tall, but toned reddish-blonde girl run up to Alfred and give him, what looked to be, a bone crushing bear hug. The blond man laughed and returned the hug, until the girl let go and seemed to jump around him in excitement.

"Haha, how long has it been Mikaela, you look so much taller?" He exclaimed.

"It's only been two years, Uncle Al."

"It's only been two years, but I remember when you were only able to roll around on the ground Mikaela!" He wailed in mock sadness and put the back of his hand on his forehead, trying to look faint. Mikaela just cocked an amused eyebrow at his display.

"Well I only wanted to say hello right now, oh, and don't forget that dad wants you over for dinner and he said you can bring your friends." She yelled as she hurried off somewhere, whilst waving, before fading into the bustling of the large crowd.

"Who was she?" Ivan sighed, he was getting tired of walking around and he really wanted to go see the sunflowers.

"Oh she is the daughter of a _close_ friend." He laughed awkwardly, but he quickly grabbed Ivan's wrist and started to drag him to a stand.

"But anyways you really need to try some of the games." Ivan didn't even struggle, seeing as he was too tired to fight back.

The first place they visited was a game that had you take a fake gun and try to hit moving targets. The smaller and quicker the target, the better the prize. Ivan laughed as the man who worked at the stand stood dumbfounded when Alfred hit the highest prized target with his first rubber pellet and then went down from there. In the end, Alfred had won a giant bag of sunflower seeds, a giant plush bear, and a map of the world with the places of all the sunflower fields each country had, a sunflower lamp, and a poster.

"That was fun." Ivan looked down at the shorter blond, who looked completely pleased. Their next stop was a trivia game about sunflowers, which Ivan answered all the questions correctly. It continued this way for two hours, in that time they won all the best prizes at almost all the games and had gone to all but one attraction. An especially funny one was one were Alfred hit a pressure plate and a ball went up and hit a bell, the bell was set extremely high up by the man working there and when the man grumbled about Alfred winning every year, it confirmed his suspicion that he was trying to stop Alfred from winning every time he came by.

"I would have thought that we would have run into them at some point." Ivan pointed out, seeing as it was getting late and they were already heading to the last thing they hadn't done. They were headed to the sunflower maze, which Alfred had said he knew like the back of his hand.

As soon as they had gotten to the front of it, they saw a large group of people. Alfred smiled and pointed, "There they are-HEEEYYYY IGGY!" A man with shaggy blonde hair whipped his head around. When they finally made it to the group, said blonde man marched up to them.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" He screeched.

"What are those, aru?" China questioned.

"Honhon, were you with some lover?" France asked suggestively. Alfred just laughed and shook his head.

"Nah, I was with Ivan, trying to get some awesome prizes… oh I forgot to tell you to use your other names."

"Well we figured it out when Francis and Arthur had a run in with security, ve~." Italy squeaked from behind Germany. Ivan chuckled silently as an image of the two countries being detained by security flashed across his mind. Arthur looked like he was about to blow a fuse. But before he could, Alfred clapped his hands together, getting everyone's attention.

"Well forget that we're about to go into the sunflower maze, I recommend pairs." He instructed while jutting his thumb at the opening. After some argument about pairs and an almost fight, everyone was ready. Many of the nations had asked to pair with Alfred, but he mainly replied with saying 'sorry but I promised to pair with Ivan'. With this information many of the countries sent him a death glare, which Ivan decided to ignore.

"Why are you lying to them?" He asked since he did not remember being promised such.

"Well I thought you would want an expert guide to show you the best spots, also I think you would like it to be quieter." Was his reply with an added in wink. Ivan knew what he meant seeing as some of the other nations were still fighting, and he was certain Alfred knew the best spot since he had been to the festival before. He nodded and followed the shorter man in, it wasn't long before he couldn't keep track of the direction they were headed. This made his heart beat faster with nervousness, there was just something about being in mazes lost. But a pat on the shoulder from his guide reminded him that it was fine and the nervousness started to fade away. He smiled at his guide, silently thanking him for the reassurance and when he didn't feel any nervousness at all, he started to enjoy the long twisting paths. Ivan found that the maze was beautiful, with all the insects buzzing serenely and other floral that grew in the maze. It all seemed to complement each other. He also noted that many of the sunflowers were almost as tall as him and he found it remarkable that sometimes when Alfred past the sunflowers, they would slightly turn towards him, though that was probably a figment of his imagination, but nations did have an effect on their own land. But as soon as he got far enough they would turn their watchful gazes back to the sun, and Alfred was an amazing sight himself, but for other reasons. And it was almost surreal when the wind whistled by, making the sunflowers sway and some of their petals would dance off to join the enchanting summer serenade. And Alfred would point out small facts, while lightly chuckling when Ivan made him stop, so he could marvel at the sights.

"You know I had thought that they would at least get along for tonight's activities, but I guess I was wrong." Alfred sighed, just barely heard as a whisper, when he and Ivan could still hear some of the pairs arguing, it seemed to bother both of them that people could still argue even though they were part of such a beautiful scene. Ivan looked quizzically at the smaller nation and wondered about what he had meant, but his thoughts were interrupted when he tripped on a root from a tall tree that stood next to the path. He pushed his hands in front of him, so that they would take the brunt of the fall. And when he hit, the tall nation grunted in pain when he hit the ground, but he quickly stood up and assessed the damage. His palms were raw and had dirt on them, his knees also ached and would send bursts of pain through his legs. But that didn't worry him as much as another fact. He was alone, in a maze, with no sense of direction.

Ivan started to worry about the missing presence, though he would never admit it.

"Alfred?" At first softly saying it while checking behind him.

"Alfred!" He then checked in front of him.

"ALFRED?" He started to raise his voice.

"ALFRED!" Ivan got more frantic when he checked to see if he had gone through the sunflowers, but he didn't see any trampled on paths. He kept turning around in circles as if he was chasing an imaginary tail. He stopped when his mind calmed down and he found that his best option was to continue down the path.

It had been almost thirty minutes, but it felt more like hours. Ivan could tell it was getting late since the path was only illuminated by dim lanterns and the last slivers of sunlight. It may have seemed eerie to most, but Ivan felt that it made it almost tranquil, albeit the yelled complaints from the other nations didn't help it. 'Could they never not be loud?' He questioned himself, deep in thought. 'Where could he have gone, did he disappear on his own accord, is he alright?' Questions like these swam around his head. But he left his inner turmoil when he heard a sound. He couldn't identify the sound, but he knew the direction of which it came. And he took off after it. The sound got louder and louder until he could make it out. He recognized it… someone was playing a piano. He stood and listened to the melody for a while, and after some time he realized it was the melody of a song Alfred had told him about. The tall man jumped when an unexpected voice sang.

" _You are my sunshine, my only sunshine"_

" _You make me happy when skies are gray"_

" _You'll never know dear, how much I love you"_

" _Please don't take my sunshine away."_

Ivan instantly recognized the lyrics as a song he heard Alfred talk about when questioned about lullaby-like songs and continued to walk towards the turn at the end of the path he had taken, all the while, smiling at himself. The voice was a soft sound, it was like the calming sound of a stream gently running over the smooth rocks that had sunk bellow its pristine surface. Or it could be the soft rustling of a gentle breeze, brushing past trees that swayed under its soft push. It would have made the whole scene all the more eerie, but the Russian man paid no heed to it. He simply wanted to find the exit of the maze, or was it that he wanted to find the source of the voice, he truly didn't know anymore. But he did know that the voice seemed to be calling, asking to be found, all the while playing and singing the simple tune. The voice was extremely endearing though Ivan could tell that there was a slight twinge of sorrow under the seemingly happy tone of the singer. Though it was possible that the singer was merely matching the somber lyrics with an endearing, yet somber tone.

" _The other night dear, when I lay sleeping"_

" _I dreamt I held you in my arms"_

" _When I awoke dear, I was mistaken"_

" _ **So I hung my head**_ _ **and cried**_ _."_

The singer seemingly paused, this saddened Ivan and any person who could hear the mystery singer. 'Did the singer not actually want to be heard, or was it that I sang along?' He wondered why the soft voiced singer stopped its sweet melody.

" _You are my sunshine, my only sunshine"_

Ivan's eyes widened, but he didn't waste another second to join.

" _ **You make me happy when skies are gray**_ _"_

" _ **You'll never know dear, how much I love**_ _"_

" _ **Please don't take my sunshine away.**_ _"_

Now it was the other country's turn to listen as the melody slowly invaded their ears. All of them had stopped their bickering, though others had stopped before because they too had first heard the soft-voiced singer. But it was different now, it was weirdly more enjoyable. Because now it had a slight, rougher undertone, that was able to match the tone and pitch. It was amazing how it matched the soft, higher pitched voice in an odd way, that would put most singers to shame.

" _ **You told me once dear, you really loved me**_ _"_

" _ **And no one else could come between us**_ _"_

" _ **But now you've left me and you love another**_ _"_

" _ **And you have shattered all my dreams.**_ _"_

" _ **You are my sunshine, my only sunshine**_ _"_

" _ **You make me happy when skies are gray**_ _"_

" _ **You'll never know dear, how much I love you**_ _"_

" _ **Please don't take my sunshine away.**_ _"_

" _ **I'll always love you and make you happy**_ _"_

" _ **If you will only say the same**_ _"_

" _ **But if you leave me to love another**_ _"_

" _ **You'll regret it all someday.**_ _"_

" _ **You are my sunshine, my only sunshine**_ _"_

" _ **You make me happy when skies are gray**_ _"_

" _ **You'll never know dear, how much I love you**_ _"_

" _ **Please don't take my sunshine away**_ _"_

" _ **Please don't take my sunshine away~.**_ _"_

Ivan almost jumped for joy when he found a large clearing. It had a large tree. It was a large, magnificent sight and it had golden flowers adorning its form, hanging down like golden tears. Everything that swayed in the late evening wind, was illuminated by the moon, which gave it a silver out-lining. It was until now that Ivan noticed it was night. The stars glowed above head, the tree moaned quietly whilst swaying, and the moon gave everything an ominous glow. He noticed two wooden benches in the middle of the clearing, he decided to take a seat in the one under the golden tree. As the tall nation sat in peaceful silence, he realized he hadn't found Alfred. But as he went to stand up, a thought struck him. 'Was Alfred the soft voice?'

Ivan thought it was a plausible guess, seeing as the blonde was missing at the time of the song, and he doubted that any of the others would have given time to sing a song without another nation messing with them. Actually know that he gave it a thought, no one had ever heard the American sing, and out of all those karaoke nights he had never sang, though Russia himself had never wanted to sing.

"Ahhhhh, finally!" England sighed loudly. Russia turned to see the rest of the nations walking into the clearing. He rolled his eyes 'no wonder they were so loud.' He internally muttered. The tall man turned his attention back to the sky, occasionally sending glances to the still bickering nations. He scoffed and shook his head. But a presence next him caught his attention, when he turned to look at the other seat on the bench, he found the blonde that had been missing the whole time. Alfred smiled at him, the moon gave his skin and hair a ghostly glow.

"Golden rain." He said with a sing-song voice, while pointing up at the golden tree. Ivan didn't get what he meant, but he still looked up to follow the other man's gaze. After a minute of looking at the tree, he looked back down to Alfred, who was still smiling an oh-so wide smile.

"It's a Golden rain tree." He said again in the same sing-song voice. Ivan smiled since the tree kind of looked like it had golden raindrops running off it too. Alfred hopped over the back of the bench and sat down next to the larger man. So far Alfred's presence had gone unnoticed by the others, and Ivan was thankful that none of them were to perspective because he was sure that they would want a "kind" word with their chaperone.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when an elbow nudged his ribcage. He looked down at Alfred who was giving him an odd look.

"You okay there dude?" Asked the prodding man, but his only reply was a slight nod from Ivan. After Alfred had been reassured, he gave a jolly smile.

"So did you like the festival?" Ivan just nodded, not feeling up to talking, but then again it was a very enjoyable experience so he guessed he was inclined to show some form of gratitude. So he pushed his hand out to the man next to him, intending to shake his hand in the form of a thanks. Alfred just stared at the hand before taking it and swinging it up and down in large sweeps. Ivan winced a bit, he guessed he hurt it when he fell.

"Ah, there he is!" The two nations, who were still shaking hands, looked over to the group. 'Seems like they finally noticed.' The Russian man remarked to himself. A certain Englishman, accompanied by a few others, stomped up to them. He looked tired and angry.

"Where were you, everyone was trying to find so we could get out of this bloody maze and why do I feel like I have asked this question a thousand times today?" Arthur fumed questioning the other blonde man, who quirked an eyebrow.

"It's because you have and, where were _you_?" He parroted back at the fuming man, which just served him to receive a glare. Apparently the American found it amusing to yank at the smaller blonde's chain. And though Arthur said he was mature, he still fell for Alfred's childish teasing. Arthur looked about to say something, when Alfred abruptly stood up, almost pulling Ivan out of his seat.

"Well anyways Iggy, I would love to stay and have a verbal test of strength but right now my friend here needs to have his scratches disinfected." Before a reply could be uttered, the American had already dragged Ivan off to the exit. Said Russian man was too tired to even complain, while the others were too flabbergasted to even move. Canada was the first to come out of the stupor and briskly followed Alfred.

"I suggest, if you want to get out of here, you follow the blonde dunce." Matthew jutted his head towards the pair in front of them, they were still rapidly leaving the nation's field of vision. They nodded and jogged after the others, who knew America and Canada were so fast.

They soon arrived to another starch white house. Its stairs were painted a dusty crème color, there looked to be about two minutes worth of stairs leading to the porch and front door that was illuminated by two porch lights in the night's darkness. There was a collective sigh made mainly by the less physically active countries and an uncharacteristically excited squeal from Germany who was now _wanting_ exercise since he ate a lot of food. Alfred and Ivan were already half-way up the steps, taking large steps up the stairs, Matthew, Ludwig, and Feliciano, who was merrily hopping up the steps, and everyone else trudging ever-so-slowly up the steps.

When they all had made it to the porch, a man who stood taller than most of the nations, with a stubbly and angular face. He was wearing a short-sleeved, light green V-neck, BDU pants, and tan army boots. The man had a jovial smile and his pale blue eyes seemed to smile with him. A girl, who Ivan identified as Mikaela, was next to him. Ivan took this time to closely analyze her since their last interaction was too quick. Mikaela was taller than he realized, probably five-nine, her short hair looked dirty blonde with red tinting it. Her eyes almost mirrored the man's, who was obviously her father, but she had a dark rim around the irises. Her hands were on her hips and her eyebrows raised in what one would call, a sassy way.

"Why hello Alfred what nice luggage you have." She gestured to Ivan who was still being dragged around and when she noticed his scrutinizing eye, she winked. Ivan looked away, an unnoticeable blush blossomed across his face.

"Well, I see the old man still hasn't taught you manners." The blonde mimicked her pose as the man light-heartedly scowled at him.

"Just because I'm in my late forties does _not_ mean I'm old!" The man cried, surprising most of them. He looked to be in his late twenties, or early thirties, since his short, dark hair that was cut short, had not one speck of gray and there were very few to no wrinkles on his face. Alfred snorted and waved him off.

"Okay, okay but anyways this is Ivan, Kiku, Matthew, Francis, Arthur…" Everyone seemed to stop listening when Alfred started naming them all, but by the time it was over, Mikaela and her dad, William, had wide, recognizing looks. Before anyone could see, Mikaela was in front of Ivan with a broad smile.

"So you're Russia huh, well it's nice to meet you!" She said before taking his hand and shaking it, much like America had. Ivan wasn't really surprised when she knew he was Russia, it was the way Alfred had stressed "old friend" when they were talking. But the others (except for Matthew, he was too cool for freaking out about this and already knew), didn't take it to kindly. Alfred groaned and spent his next five minutes explaining his relationship with the family.

"Hey do you think you could go disinfect his scraped hand?" Mikaela nodded to his question while the other nations were still screeching about the dangers of it all. Ivan was led into the house and down a long hallway until they reached a luxurious bathroom. The shorter girl opened a cabinet in the corner of the bathroom and pulled out a brown bottle of alcohol and a box of band-aids.

"Sit still would ya, I can't treat your hand if you keep moving around." She placed a surprisingly strong had on his chest and guided him to sit on the lid of the toilet. Ivan, the ever compliant this time around, let her do this as he reviewed the day's events; but he wasn't given much time since it was only a simple procedure that was being done on his hand. Ivan didn't even flinch when Mikaela dabbed an alcohol doused cotton ball on the small, yet several scraps. Mikaela made quick work of the supplies when she finished, and then she ushered him out of the bathroom and to where the other nations had now gone to the back lawn where several fold out chairs had been set up and what seemed to be a bonfire on the walk out porch. The nations were either bickering (again), running around and then tripping over their own feet (Italy), or they were sporting a head ache (Germany and America).

Ivan approached the blonde that he had spent the most time with today. And said person just glanced up at him, where he had buried his face in his arms, on the back porch's railing.

"You're lucky, you were able to miss out on all of Iggy's lecture on the "safety of it all-" Ivan chuckled and Alfred huffed, "would you accept it if I gave you ten dollars, to take me to a karaoke joint, it would be nice and only have a _dull_ roar?" Ivan's smile resembled that of the Cheshire cat's. 'Well that's one mystery solved." He thought to himself.


	2. Sunflower seeds with chocolate

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.**

After the festival; America and Russia were not as cold to each other. There were brief greetings or slight nods in agreement and acknowledgement. They had spent the morning after the festival at Mikaela's house and then everyone went home and unpacked. Too bad that that only left them a day before they had to go back to a meeting.

Though no one wanted to go, and nothing really happened too. Everyone sat and listened with barely rapt attention as, once again, Germany droned on. And everyone sighed with relief when a break was called, and they started to file out of the building even though it was still the dead of summer; except for the few who had brought food or didn't want to go out and decided to make their food in the kitchens. Two such people were Russia and America. Russia had already eaten and America was snacking on something that suspiciously looked like seeds. Russia had not seen America snack on something like that in a _long_ time; so he slightly leaned over (they had sat next to each other this time because they both were late to the meeting), and he nudged America to get his attention.

"What are you eating?" He asked, slightly interested in the food that was in a plastic vial from which you can pour its contents out into your hands or mouth. America looked at him and then at his food.

"Well, I'm eating chocolate covered sunflower seeds, though I don't know if they're actually sunflower seeds." He replied while pouring out a generous handful and popping it up to his mouth. The other just nodded, wondering if they actually tasted good since you could hardly ever trust his taste buds because of a certain someone (* _not conspicuous cough_ *England* _cough_ *). So when America offered him a handful, he accepted it with weariness. Russia slowly led the handful to his mouth and chewed. They were, in fact, good.

He didn't notice America's smirk of, what seemed to be, triumph, because it was gone as soon as they started conversing leisurely while they popped handfuls of America's snack to their mouths. Neither noticed Canada with his plate of freshly made pancakes and kumajiro inconspicuously taking photos. Nor did they notice England sending them looks from the other end of the other side of the table. They just sat there talking about odd foods that they had tried before; when everyone filed back in after the break, they cut their conversation short, saying that they should talk again because it was nice talking in a "low key" manner.


End file.
